''The thing about Jeff that was quite unique in terms of his approach at the time, apart from being a fantastic photographer, was that he was a wonderful person who people obviously warmed to … He was able to show in his images the great respect he had for people and for the landscape.''

When Byron was the curator of photography at the Art Gallery of NSW in the early 1990s, Carter showed her some of his work. Its focus on people rather than places or objects ''literally took my breath away'', she says. ''It was so much what we were crying out for - a balance; someone working in the documentary tradition.''

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Carter, who lived on a farm near Berry, had a long history of spending time with the people he photographed.

At 18, he set off from his home in Melbourne, travelling the country and working as a roustabout and, for a brief time, as a tent-show boxer.

''He went on the road and travelled and worked with these people,'' Byron said. ''He frequently went back to the same locations over several years, sometimes over generations, so he built up this tremendous rapport.

''He often had done part-time work in some of these jobs so he had an enormous respect for people who toiled on the land. His interest was in real people and how they went about their lives.''

The State Library exhibition, which opens in December, will focus on the beach, the bush and battlers.

''I hope it will be a great tribute to him,'' Byron said. ''Not only as a very important and wonderful photographer but also a wonderful person who will be sorely missed.''